• USA Today, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:45 AM

As retailers trim their stock and staff this holiday season, shoppers will have fewer choices and salespeople to assist them. Meanwhile, many retailers are likely to follow Wal-Mart's and Neiman Marcus' lead and will have more and earlier promotions to try to lure people into their stores.

But retailers say they'll try to cut costs without alienating customers. "Retailers are in it to sell merchandise and be profitable. They don't want to self-fulfill lower sales because they didn't have enough people on hand or the right products on the shelf," says Kevin Sterneckert, retail research director at AMR Research, which advises companies on technology.

Retailers that don't increase promotions likely will have some ready as "contingency plans because the earth is so shaky," says Phil Rist of consumer insights firm BIGresearch.

Read the whole story at USA Today »